sparkle|Sparkles and Sprinkles

Cookie Cutter Needle Felting – perfect beginner project

by sparkle | Oct 3, 2024 | Craft Tutorials

Thinking about giving needle felting a try? Follow our simple video tutorial for a delightful project that is perfect for beginners!

At Sparkles and Sprinkles, we love just about everything that might fit in the category of handcrafts. However, we had put needle felting in a category of its own – “too dangerous!” Fortunately a family in our homeschool group asked if we might be able to learn needle felting in our handcraft club. With this motivation, we decided to be daring and give it a try.

It turns out that needle felting is not so scary after all (whew!). We decided to start with the easiest type of project, as recommended in a lovely book about needle felting, Needle Felting for Beginners: How to Sculpt with Wool. This book describes how the wool just naturally weaves itself together by getting poked with a felting needle – so simple!

Needle Felting for Beginners recommends using a cookie cutter to help make the shape. With this method, one is much less likely to get a poke from the felting needle. These sweet little wool creations made with the help of a cookie cutter can be strung into a garland to decorate your home, if you like. We made a fall garland with pumpkin shapes, but you could use any shape (hearts, flowers, stars, Christmas trees….)

We also learned that finger protectors can be worn to make getting poked even less likely. Of course young children should we watched and guided carefully, even with these precautions. In our opinion age 5 would probably be the youngest age for projects like this.

Are you ready to try needle felting? We’ve put together a shopping list with clickable links so that you can easily gather supplies. Then watch our video to find out just how easy and fun… and even, to our surprise, relaxing… needle felting can be.

Needle Felting Shopping List

Needle Felting Pad: We wanted to make a bunch of pads for our homeschool group club, so we bought 2″ thick foam pad and cut it into several 5×5 inch pieces. If you just need one pad, then this felting pad from Desert Breeze would be great.

Leather Finger Protectors: We needed more than one pair, so we chose this pack of 10 pairs of leather finger protectors. If you need fewer pairs, these leather finger protectors could be a good option.

Size 40 Triangle Needle: Needles come in many different shapes and sizes. The size 40 triangle needle works well for this beginner project. The authors of the book we read recommend a size 40 spiral needle for the finishing touches, but we have found the size 40 triangle needle works for the whole project from start to finish. Many people recommend using needles made in Europe for their superior quality. We have used needles from Felted Sky and from Desert Breeze. Both seem to work well and are European-made. (However, even good quality needles can still break, so be sure to use them only in an up and down motion – never pulling them from side-to-side in the wool). Felted sky has a variety pack of needles on Etsy, as well as a multi-pack of size 40 triangle needles (even if you think you only need one needle, it’s a good idea to have extras on hand in case of breakage).

(Or to keep things simple, you might like a kit that includes needles, felting pad, and finger protectors from Desert Breeze. This kit does not include the 40 triangle needle, but we have found that a 40 spiral needle can work for this project.)

Wool: We tried two different wools for our project. Desert Breeze has wool in a variety of colors that works well. We also were very happy with an Etsy seller from West Virginia (Bridget’s Farm Cart) who dyes her wools in beautiful colors, including an orange color that actually comes with a variety of orange shades specifically for making pumpkins. It’s lovely!

Cookie Cutters: If you plan to make a garland, small cookie cutters (about 1.5 inches in diameter) would be best. Any size cookie cutter can work, however. We use these sweet mini pumpkin cookie cutters from The Cookie Cutter Shop. If you are looking for another shape, consider this mini heart or mini star.)

Wool Felt Balls: If you are planning to make a garland, you could make several of your cookie cutter shaped creations, or you could add in some small wool felt balls to add variety and save time.

Embroidery Needle and Embroidery Floss: To string your garland together, you’ll need some embroidery floss and an embroidery needle.

Let’s make some felted pumpkins…

Thanks for stopping by sparklesandsprinkles.blog!

We hope you come to enjoy needle felting as much as we have!

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Other links may or may not be affiliate links. We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Homeschool kick-off week: a joy-filled way to start the school year

by sparkle | Oct 3, 2024 | Craft Tutorials

Looking for a way to make the start of the school year something to look forward to? And bring happy memories for years to come? How about a homeschool kick-off week?

We’ve been doing homeschool kick-off weeks in one way or another since our oldest daughter started kindergarten. That year we went to a pick-your-own flower farm on the first day of school, as we had decided to name our homeschool Little Flowers School after Saint Thérèse. The reality was that a trip to the flower farm was a bit stressful with little ones – see the signs in the photo below: “Do not walk in the flower beds” and “Choose carefully. You are required to pay for ALL flowers you pick.” It was not the idyllic day of carefree frolicking in flower fields I envisioned, but we did come home with some pretty bouquets, and the day at the flower farm is still a happy memory. Homeschool kick-off days have gotten better from there, and in this post we share with you some examples of our homeschool kick-off days.

While our homeschool kick-off weeks are quite different every year, there are three things they tend to have in common:

some surprise gifts
a slow start (doing just one or two subjects a day – more on that below)
fun family together time activities

We usually base the especially fun days on what we plan to study for social studies or science in the coming year… this way our activities relate to everyone, as we tend to do science and social studies as a whole family.

Special Gifts

Our kick-off days start with an idea I borrowed from German teacher at the school where I used to teach. She so kindly wrapped beautiful little gifts to have on each student’s desk on the first day of school. She told me that it is a German tradition for students to be given gifts to start the school year. They are called Schultüte. Her generosity amazed me to do this for so many students! And I’m sure it brought joy to so many students over the years.

Inspired by this, we try to start off our school year with some fun gifts as well. Somehow a beautifully wrapped gift to open brings lots of smiles, even if there might be sadness in summer coming to an end. Rather than just the necessary school supplies, we try to find something special, like pretty pencils with inspirational quotes, or unique pencil cases found at gift shop over the summer. Sometimes we include books and a book journal. For children who are not officially school age, we pick gifts of toys that they might enjoy playing with while the older siblings are doing school work. One year when the big girls needed a real microscope, our little ones received an educational microscope toy.

Here is what our kick off week looked like this year…

We’ll also share with you some of the curricula we are using this year – we are always grateful for learning about curricula other families love, so we hope our favorites might be helpful to you as well. We have a penchant for a Charlotte Mason approach to learning.

Monday: History Day

This year we will be studying ancient history, so a brand new DK Eyewitness book about Ancient Greece was sitting by the breakfast table. These books bring history alive, and are so fun to peruse – no one needs to tell a child to pick this up and learn, it just happens!

We then read from Spend the Day in Ancient Greece, which tells the story of a fictional Ancient Greek family and gives numerous craft ideas. We made the first project in the book: an owl made out of clay to represent Athena’s wisdom.

We also started our read aloud from Famous Men of Greece (suggested in the Mater Amabilis curriculum). The girls did narration and drawings about what they learned in their history notebooks. (History notebooks are so fun, by the way… they give each child a way to express themselves at their own level, whether it be a lengthy written description by a teen or a simple drawing by a preschooler.)

We continued the Greek theme with making Greek salad for lunch and Amygdalota (naturally gluten-free almond flour Greek cookies that symbolizes new beginnings) for dessert.

Tuesday: French and Music Day

We started our day by cuddling up together and reading from a French children’s book.

The girls then opened some fun gifts – a 3D puzzle of Paris and audio flashcards (a screen-free activity that still allows independent language practice). The 3-D puzzle of Paris turned out to be a hit! It was so fun to put together, and actually provided for hours of (gentle) play in the days to come (as there are little people that can be moved around).

We also took the time to do our Hoffman Academy online piano lessons. (I was at first skeptical of the idea of online piano lessons, but we have now been using Hoffman Academy for years – it teaches not only how to play piano, but incorporates music theory as well, in a very well-thought-out and fun way.)

The highlight of our day was going to a beautiful French cafe for lunch and spending some time playing at a local park with friends. On our drive to the cafe, we listened to the Busy Kids Love Music podcast. (I’m trying to incorporate music history into our curriculum this year without adding in any prep work – this podcast is delightful.)

Wednesday: English Day

The gift for the day was a bookmark making kit and a beautiful newly published book, Because Barbara, about the life of author and illustrator, Barbara Cooney. (We have at least one budding author and illustrator in our family, so this book was a good inspiration, and everyone loved it!)

I spent time helping each child with their grammar and spelling books. (This year, we are using Catholic Heritage Curricula for the older girls and The Good and the Beautiful for our Kindergartner.)

The plan was also to make a visit to our local library, but we ended up opting to do this another day as everyone was tired this day. It’s good to flexible and go-with the flow for a joy-filled kick-off week.

Thursday: Math Day

I was able to do a math lesson with each child so that we could get to know the math program. This year, for the first time, our girls are all doing The Good and the Beautiful math – true to its name, it is a visually beautiful program that uses a spiral learning approach.

Our fun activity for math day was really pretty simple… a nature walk where each child gathered nature items of their choice in a little bag, then we came home and thought about how they could relate to math. How many petals are on this flower? Why do flowers have so many seeds? What shapes do you see? How far do you think we walked?…

Friday: Science Day

While we often do our biggest kick-off day on the first day, this year it worked best to do our biggest kick-off day on Friday. My husband takes the day off of work for this day to join us in the fun and add some words of encouragement and special blessing prayers for the start of the school year.

We started the day with pancakes in the shape of bears for breakfast and a gift of pencils with animal erasers… as a little foreshadowing that our special trip would be to the zoo. (Side note: We use our healthy gluten-free cupcake recipe to make the batter for our pancakes. These pancakes are packed with protein for a great start to the day.)

A trip to the zoo was such a fun way to kick-off our study of biology this year. Below are a few of the many photos we took of the animals. To top off the day, we were able to stop in for some prayer time at church on our way home to thank God for the gift of His creation, and ask God to guide our school year too.

With such a long day at the zoo, we actually waited until the following week to start our science book work. We are using The Good and the Beautiful biology program this year, starting off with mammals. So far I am totally impressed, and the children love the program. I really love how the program has one main teacher guide, and separate (scaffolded) nature journals for each age group. They seem to be spot on for the level of work that seems appropriate for their ages.

A Slow Start…

You may notice that we only do one or two subjects per day during our kick-off week. I call this a “slow start,” and there are so many reasons I love it:

Doing only one subject a day to start gives me time to work one-on-one with each child on each subject, without feeling rushed.
As I see how the child connects with the curriculum for each subject, I can better think about how much time each subject might take, and how to weave together a schedule for the year (rather than just guessing at it). Planning a schedule for the year can be overwhelming, nonetheless, so I always try to remember to take it to prayer… with God all things are possible!
If there are projects still left undone from the summer (fun things like making photo albums, or not so fun like cleaning out closets), part of the day can be spent wrapping up those things.
Doing just one or two subjects a day at the start of the school year provides a more peaceful transition from the freedom of summer to the demands of the school year… both for me as the teacher and for my children.

A few more fun ideas:

Truly, every year is different, so in case it sparks more ideas for you, here are some of our favorite memories from years past:

Getting toy boats and sailing them across the neighborhood swimming pool the year we were studying early American history, pretending one end of the pool was Europe and the other end America. (Another benefit of homeschooling… being at the pool while everyone else is at school!)

Using couch cushions to make a pretend time machine, then getting in and pretending to blast off to different time periods to get a preview of what we would be learning about in a world history year. Daddy even had the thought to play some time machine sound effects and make a control panel from a cardboard box! Each time we made a stop, there was an activity related to the time period in a different room of the house (an art project, a book to read, music to listen to…).

Spending the day seeing monuments in D.C. to kick off the year that civics was our social studies focus, then coming home and trying to make the monuments out of cake and frosting… Is it Cake? style. It was quite a mess on the counter (with frosting, cake, cookies, pretzels, and more… and yes, I had to temporarily give up my “stay away from refined sugar” norm that you see in our blog recipes.) Our girls are still asking if we can please do Is it Cake? again!?

Of course coming up with your own ideas to suit your own family and curriculum for the year is best (and most fun), but we hope these ideas might spark some ideas for you, and add joy to your school year.

May God bless you and your family as you learn and grow together!

P.S. If you are reading this in the middle of the school, you could tuck away the idea for next school year, or maybe do a week like this in the middle of the school year to add a little variety. Kind of like doing a “Just because we can day” (have heard about this great idea from Sarah Mackenzie?) but instead a “Just because we can week!”

Other links may or may not be affiliate links. We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Sweet Sewing-themed Picture Books

by sparkle | Jun 26, 2024 | Craft Tutorials

Looking for a sweet picture book to share with your little seamstress? We’ve gathered up a few favorites for you from brand-new to classic. Enjoy!

I had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn

I had a Favorite Dress follows the story of a little girl who outgrows her favorite dress. Her mom is always ready to transform the dress into something new with her creativity and sewing skills. This book is full of rhythm and rhyme and has adorable illustations. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to upcycle something in your closet after reading this book.

Sew Sister by Elise Matich

Did you know that space shuttles are covered in panels of special fireproof fabric? Sew Sister tells the story of Jean Wright and the NASA seamstresses who sewed blankets to cover space shuttles. We love how this story speaks to the unique and perhaps surprising ways that we may be called to use our God-given talents and interests. Sew Sister is told in rhyme with beautiful illustrations.

The Wordless Weaver by Claudia Cangilla McAdam

This touching book is an especially good read during the Lenten season. The Wordless Weaver imagines the story of a little girl who might have woven the burial cloth for Jesus. The tone is quite serious and sad… but a miracle comes at the end! My children love this story and ask to read it any time of year.

Corduroy and A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman

As a girl who loved sewing from a very young age, these were some of my favorite books as a child. The Corduroy books tell the story of Lisa and her stuffed bear, Corduroy. Lisa is happy to use her sewing skills to repair Corduroy’s overalls and sew a pocket for him. Perhaps your child might be inspired to mend a toy too after reading these books.

Paris Picture Books: A Fun Way to learn French

Sewing Scripture: Writing practice pages

Stitching with Saints: Creative projects inspired by the saints

Other links may or may not be affiliate links. We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Stitching with Saints

by sparkle | Jun 21, 2024 | Craft Tutorials

Come learn about some holy women who loved to work with their hands, including Our Blessed Mother, Saint Zelie Martin, and Saint Rose of Lima. Then be inspired to try some stitching projects of your own. In this post we provide links to resources to learn about lace making and embroidery. We also have links for beautiful Catholic fabric to inspire your next sewing project.

Note: We have a number of video links in this post, and we have noticed on some devices (with lazy load), the video link images do not appear. In this case, please click on the text link to go to the videos.

Saint Rose of Lima

Saint Rose of Lima is the patron saint of embroidery.

Public Domain image of Saint Rose of Lima

Embroidery can be a fun way to learn how to sew. A project we love that can also make a sweet gift is a hand emboidered flour sack towel. Simply sketch your design with pencil on a portion of the towel, attatch an emboidery hoop, and start stitching (the video below gives some great ideas for a variety of stitches).

Can’t see the image? Click here for the embroidery sampler video.

Saint Zélie Martin

Saint Zélie Martin, the mother of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, was a talented lacemaker.

Public Domain Image of Saint Zelie Martin

Lacemaking is not something we have tried at Sparkles and Sprinkles, but we think it sounds like a fun challenge. How about you? Do you want to give lacemaking a try? We have gathered together a few videos about lace making to help you get started. The first one is from Alençon, the town where Saint Zélie and her family lived.

We found this picture of beautiful lace made by Saint Zélie in the book Thérèse and Lisieux by Pierre Descouvement.

Cant’s see the image? Click here for Lace Making in Alençon video.

Can’t see the image? Click here to see video on needlepoint lace.

Can’t see the image? Click here to see the beginning lace making video of lace from around the world.

Our Blessed Mother Mary

We can imagine Our Blessed Mother sewing for the Holy Family.

Reni_-_The_Virgin_Sewing,_Accompanied_by_Four_Angels,_known_as_La_Couseuse,_lot.49

Public Domain Image of “The Virgin Sewing”

Making a baby Jesus doll or making clothes for a baby doll could be a beautiful way to think about Our Blessed Mother as you sew. For a little inspiration, we are posting a photo of a Waldorf-style baby Jesus doll we made a few years ago. Perhaps sometime we’ll make tutorial on how to make this sweet little doll.

Sewing Sisters

Many religious sisters spend time making beautiful vestments and church linens.

You may have heard of Sister Wilhelmina, whose body was found to be incorrupt. She was the foundress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles. This religious order may be best known for their beautiful singing, but they also spend part of their days sewing vestments for the Church.

This video gives a glimpse into the daily life of the sisters of Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles (vestment making is mentioned around minute 3).

Watch this video to hear a wonderful talk on the significance of vestments.

Are you inspired to make vestments? A fun way to start might be making miniature vestments, as used in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd classes. Here is a link for a pattern sold on Etsy.

Catholic Fabric We Love

A sweet friend introduced us to Spoonflower a few years ago. We had no idea that this delightful treasure of fabric with Catholic designs existed. We are so happy to share with you some of our favorite Catholic fabric designers on Spoonflower…

Littleliteraryclassics on Spoonflower has fabric to make simple pocket saint dolls. This is a darling little project for the beginning seamstress. They can be sewn by hand or by machine. In this photo, we used pinking shears to cut around the edge so that the fabric did not even have to be turned inside out for children making their very first (big) stitches.

Marigold Catholic Goods Co. has beautiful designs! If I could, I would buy them all. The color palette and designs bring such peace and joy. I think you will enjoy them too. We made a pennant banner for a garden party using the “Consider how the wildflowers grow” fabric from this designer. Definitely check out the other designs in this shop too! And if you are not up for a sewing project, but love the designs, you can find these beautiful designs on mugs, scarves, blankets and more in the Catholic All Year Marketplace.

Our homeschool group sewing group used the “Hail Mary” fabric from The Little Rose Shop to make some doll pillows and blankets. The Little Rose Shop has so many other sweet designs as well!

“Sew” delightful… if you would like to make a pennant banner too, we recommend Leigh Ann Wilke’s tutorial . She figured out the math on how to make the best use of the fabric! So it’s a breeze to make it.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reflecting on sewing with us.

Sewing Scripture: Cursive and Printing Practice Pages

Blossoms on the sidewalk: Embracing Creative Messes

Easy pillowcase dresses: Doll and Me Dress Tutorial

Other links may or may not be affiliate links. We provide links because we have found these products or services beneficial, and we think you might too.

Blossoms on the sidewalk: a little reflection on creative messes

by sparkle | May 14, 2024 | Craft Tutorials

If you happen to be stopping by Sparkles and Sprinkles, it probably means that you are the parent of creative children, who might just make some creative messes sometimes, or perhaps you are the creative culprit making (and leaving) messes, as I am too.

So, though Sparkles and Sprinkles is not normally a place for reflective articles, we are posting one today…

A few weeks ago, I happened to have the chance to take a walk by myself on a beautiful spring day. As I walked along the sidewalk, I found myself delighting in walking through an abundance of pink apple blossoms, which had fallen on the sidewalk from the beautiful tree above. I silently thanked God in my heart for this gift of fluffy pink blossoms I was walking through on the sidewalk.

A few days later, it was Saturday cleaning day in our house, and as I sat down drinking some tea, and having a little prayer time after breakfast (getting ready for the tasks of the day ahead), those blossoms on the sidewalk floated into my mind.

One of the ways we are made in the image and likeness of God is that we love to create, just like God does.

It occurred to me that one of the ways we are made in the image and likeness of God is that we love to create, just like God does. God is so abundant in his creation: not just one blossoming tree, but many; not just a few blossoms on each tree, but an overwhelming beautiful abundance of blossoms. With this abundance of creativity comes what one could call “a mess.” But in fact no one would think of an abundance of pink blossoms on the sidewalk as a mess, but rather, just a beautiful sign of spring.

Of course God does have a plan for picking up this “mess” – the wind eventually blows it away, or it’s washed by the rain, or perhaps even swept away by someone in a nearby house as the yardwork is done. However, it’s usually not cleaned up instantly, and as it lingers on the sidewalk, no one worries. And perhaps, others, like myself, even delight in the “mess” of blossoms.

So as I sat sipping tea and reading the Mass readings in my Magnificat, it occurred to me that I could think of the messes strewn around our home like blossoms on the sidewalk. Yes, they would have to get picked up eventually, but as they sit there, they don’t have to be considered as an eyesore, but rather a sign of the springtime of the creativity of our children.

Yes, the messes would have to get picked up eventually, but as they sit there, they don’t have to be considered as an eyesore, but rather a sign of the springtime of the creativity of our children

Since that morning, I have been trying to look at the messes, take a deep breath, say to myself, “Blossoms on the sidewalk,” and then more kindly and patiently figure out a pick up plan. So…

Paper scraps, glitter, and marker caps all over the floor… deep breath… blossoms on the sidewalk.

Legos all over the floor… deep breath… blossoms on the sidewalk (if only they felt like blossoms when stepped on, oh well!)

Hair binders and Barbie accessories strewn on the rug and down the hallway… deep breath… blossoms on the sidewalk.

Flour dust and batter drippings lingering on the counter… deep breath… blossoms on the sidewalk.

Admittedly, sometimes I’m the creative mess-maker… so, candle making supplies all over the counter, and the sewing machine still not put away, surrounded by scraps of fabric and pieces of thread… deep breath… blossoms on the sidewalk.

Praise God for the gift of being made in His image and likeness, and for the gift of creativity He planted in us. Creative work sometimes leaves trails of messes… no worries, just more beautiful blossoms on the sidewalk. Delightful. Beautiful. Creative.

– Written one morning on scraps of paper with a dull colored pencil, as a pen could not be found, and opening the computer sounded unappealing.

Ready to sprinkle some blossoms of creativity? We have some ideas for you…

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« Older Entries

Homeschool kick-off week: a joy-filled way to start the school year

Sweet Sewing-themed Picture Books

Paris Picture Books: A Fun Way to learn French

Sewing Scripture: Writing practice pages

Stitching with Saints: Creative projects inspired by the saints

Stitching with Saints

Sewing Scripture: Cursive and Printing Practice Pages

Blossoms on the sidewalk: Embracing Creative Messes

Easy pillowcase dresses: Doll and Me Dress Tutorial

Blossoms on the sidewalk: a little reflection on creative messes

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